Amazon lowers Kindle eBook reader price to $299

By eSchool News

July 9th, 2009

Amazon.com cut the price of its Kindle electronic reading device to $299 on July 8 in an effort to attract more users and make the gadget a mainstream hit, reports the Associated Press — though the larger Kindle DX, which is geared toward education and lets students read electronic textbooks, still has its original price of $489. The new $299 price for the basic Kindle is $60 below the device’s cost since May 2008. The product originally debuted at $399 in 2007. Amazon spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal said the price cut is not just a short-term promotion. Amazon has not disclosed Kindle sales figures, and the publishing industry has said eBooks account for less than 1 percent of book sales—but they are a fast-growing, competitive segment. Customers can wirelessly download books to the Kindle, with new releases often as inexpensive as $10. ThinkEquity analyst Ed Weller said the Kindle’s price cut means Amazon will "sell more of them, and they’ll sell more [eBooks]…"